Fourth-graders putting condoms on bananas OR materialism. Which one damages the soul more? Which is harder to root out? When the Lexus SUVs pull up to drop the kids off at the private Christian school, are the kids aware of their privilege? When they’re all equipped with the latest iPod, the swankest TI graphing calculator, and the non-stop message that it’s all about them, how can they NOT be?
Worse still, how can they possibly see through that gray fog when their own parents can’t?
I’m no master of discernment, but I think I’m fairly capable of dealing with whatever the public school Canaanites can throw at me. The kids I truly worry about are those in the private Christian school who may very well be materialists at the core, yet surrounded by a highly polished veneer of Christianity or—in keeping with an age when truth is now truthiness— what I like to call Christ-iness.
We can’t drop out of Canaan because it’s all around us. We have to choose which Canaan we’ll dwell in. Some do so consciously, while other get sucked in by osmosis.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Choosing Your Canaan
As my wife and I try and figure out what we are going to do with our kids and schooling (New Mexico public schools are about at bad as it gets, or so I'm told) this post from Dan Edelen was very helpful. This excerpt is my favorite:
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11 comments:
It's a tough choice for us as well. Our oldest, Emie, will be going into kindergarten in the fall. I like the article. I've had my share of educational experiences (grew up in public school, taught at a Christian school, and now surrounded by many friends who homeschool) but my wife and I are sensing God's leading to be a difference maker in our community with the love and truth of Christ by staying in the public school. However, it's not an easy decision by any means and we hope to prayerfully reevaluate at the end of each year.
z- i just had a really good talk with tracie b about this- they are taking dawson out of school next year- you should call her or kim should and talk about it. we are thinking hard about this too.
she felt like they were always trying to counteract everything that he was learning and doing-
It is a multi-faceted issue. I am not sure that there is one perspective that settles it. For us it is not the instruction but the environment. We know too many young girls under 2nd grade who have already had to deal with little boys violating them, and our society is headed in a direction that only perpetuates this sort of behaviour. There are probably voices that say this is a small issue, and I am sure there are a number of other reasons to go with home-schooling. I can deal with funky instruction and content--probably good to learn to deal with that. But, having to deal with a little girl who has been touched where she should not be at an age when she can't understand but cries about it is not something I would react to very well. Perhaps then it is for everyone's benefit that we are leaning strongly toward home-school.
As I have been kicking this around with some folks today, it seems that either way you slice it, parental involvement is going to be of utmost importance.
Jamie, I hear what you are saying... but I think the question not whether we are going to have to "counteract" (to use your term) because we know that world is going to throw lots of wack stuff at our kids, but at what age do we expose them more intensely to these things?
I think if Kim and I had to choose today for our kids we would probably go the route of Christian school, but that danger there is the potential for numbness to all things Christian as they are exposed to it constantly.
Danger all around!
1. Pray
2. Seek counsel
3. Pray some more
4. Act by faith
Or move to Japan where there are no Christians!
Even though I teach at a Christian school myself (70% are non-Christian Japanese kids), Maki and I planning to home-school for at least the first 3 years. After that, like Fever said, we are hoping to gradually expose them to more.
Thanks for the post- and it is good to see all of the old UNI friends here!
i totally agree zach- we were never homeschool bound until we started hearing "do it" or "we would have done it if we could do it again" by people we respect. we thought, most honestly, that home schooling was sheltering your children- you were afraid of the world- and they could only wear skirts and have long hair- and socially nervous.....
i can see the point of getting them "solid" in their walk- so they know how to react to different situations- having them do "life" with us- going out talking to people- having college students, int'l students over-
a friend of ours that is pretty chill about things- has 5 kids. they said if they could do it all over again they would have home schooled through high school- once he said that to andy- andy really was interested because this is coming from someone who we would have never thought would say that.
interesting to think about
Amen Jamie.
The whole issue seems to revolve around "protection." I think it is important to clarify the "what" and the "why." WHAT are we trying to protect our children from? WHY are we trying to protect our children?
As for the what: content (i.e. what the kids learn and hear in school) is not a big scare. I think more problematic issues are the quality of schooling and the environment. Laura and I are finding more and more that these are serious downfalls in most American schools. If there is a good school that meets these, we will consider it.
The second issue, WHY...I think that we have to consider 1 Cor 5:9-13--we are not to just turn into recluse Christians; it is a matter of fact "can not"--we can't just depart from the world, we are in it, good or bad--and hopefully for the betterment of God's world. I think the "why" question directly relates to the "what" question. If it is a content issue, we must ask why we are protecting our kids from what they might learn in school. Do we fear that our kids will listen to the school and not us? For Laura and me, this is not an issue. Rather, Laura and I have to ask why we feel a need to protect from poor quality of schooling. Or why protect Jaya and other little girl Fevers from possible scarring from little boys whose parents don't get it--at least until Junior High. Then at least kids are becoming mature enough to know what's going on in the world around them, understand it, and deal with it. Perhaps it is not just protection, but proactive moves we are making so that our kids have what we feel is the best, most healthy childhood.
kyle- those are really good questions- things that we probably haven't thought about a ton- it seems like we have a few years to process yet and ask more people/pray etc.
i think everyone has a different idea about why they want to home school- i would put little thought into quality of schooling- while i would put more thought into what they were being taught.
i feel like public schools even though they aren't necessarily teaching about evolution or whatever the subject may be- there are little tiny hooks that sink into the brain that they try and lay this crazy foundation. i think that is scary that my kids could be learning all this stuff- and they are with random people all day hearing it.
man who wouldn't want to protect their children from whatever-- weird boys in elementary or weird doctrinal foundations - i think i/we have to continue to hold our children loosely to the Lord- knowing that even in the things like home schooling, if we choose to do that-- something tragic could happen to them.
I trust that the Lord's plan cannot be thwarted... (doesn't mean we aren't proactive) but He's the one that is sovereign over all!
Yes, definitely proactive is the way to go. The best way to protect is to be proactive - take ownership of your own responsibility to instill biblical modeling and parenting (and teaching) into your kids. Tell them that they are on a mission from Jesus Himself! Then pray like crazy with them and for them!
I'm not a parent, but as a science teacher in a public school that caters to kids who are a little different (seeking to be performing artists of some sort when they grow up), I wholeheartedly agree with the last post about proactive parents. The environment of public schools is bound to be crazy, but I think that most kids that have proactive parents survive alright. For instance, I have to teach about evolution (and I would even if I taught in a christian school) and I am legally unable to say anything at all about God, including any notion of intelligent design. So I teach evolution, but I try to emphasize the incredible way that nature and the human body works, hoping that the kids will ask questions. Then I pray that when they go home, their parents will ask what they learned, and will be willing and able to jump into a conversation about science and God and creation and evolution and society. I spend a lot of time with these kids, but if they've got parents who spend more time with them, and who talk through what they learn, then not only will these kids be biblically grounded, they'll also be able to evaluate what teachers tell them as they get into high school and beyond. And that ability to critically evaluate in light of a biblical worldview is vital, not just in school, but in life.
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